My Presentation

Last Wednesday, the 12st November, was the day of my presentation. A presentation that explained my essay in as great a detail as I could manage.

I knew about said presentation but ignorantly I did not realise that it was so soon, having dealt with health problems and other such projects beforehand, it had slipped my mind. Hardly an excuse, just an observation.

I was therefore, not really prepared though had enough to talk about to keep it up for at least ten minutes. I had also drawn something in my sketchbook to express and show what it was I was trying to explain.

I can only hope I succeeded in getting my point across and explaining it properly.

What I have learnt from the other presentation is a good amount. How others presented themselves and their questions and explantations were very informative.

I also noticed that there are a few that mention the same film(s) as I have in my essay/presentation and that gives me a second opinion and viewpoint, something I can easily add into my essay if I wished.
Many of their research and references would help me also. Looking further into Animation and the whys and the what ifs behind certain films, is something I should look into. As well as looking into what emotions/memories they prompt in the audience and why.

Essay Draft and resources

The question that shall be examined and then answered within this essay is as follows, why are objects that are durable in real life softened and unrealistically flexible in Animation? There are several other questions and paths that can be followed connected with this and each one will be pressed upon and explained in as much detail as possible.

  Primarily, does the elasticity of normally hard objects make said object in animation friendlier for the audience? Well, yes, to take an object like a toaster, for example, like the one fromThe Brave Little Toaster and soften it to the point of exaggeration where it can be given a face, expressions and movement, makes it more likeable and applicable to the audience then just having a standard toaster without features, move across the stage. Giving an object often referred to as ‘lifeless’ and commonly thought purely as an item without a soul and merely there to aid people in their day-to-day lives a personality, a life and a history makes it more human and relatable. Allowing the audience to feel, connect and hope for the object.

              The same applies in the short Make Mine Music -Johnny Fedora and Alice Blue Bonnett where the film follows two hats whom battle for the chance to be back together again. A love story about hats, not the most common relatable film to watch one would think, but because of the way it is approached, the way the hats are shown and moved in certain ways, expressing their personality and wants, make it watchable and significant. The expressions are managed in a different way to the toaster also, they don’t necessary have mouths but because of how the objects are bent and morphed with their movement give the impression of different emotions. The stands, in the screenshot of the scene provided, additionally aid with their actions, reactions and personality. Of course, the obvious image of eyes upon them likewise makes the objects more anthropological.

              WithinThe Animator's Survival Kit one is shown the twelve core principles of animation and how it helps animation along and one such principle is squash and stretch, this seems to have been used in many animations to give objects character. The purpose of squash and stretch is to give an object a sense of weight and springiness, perhaps to such an extent that it makes a lifeless object lively. In animation, it is argued that anything is possible, and so most is and can be taken to the extreme, the stretch and squash of something exaggerated to such a large degree.

              Does cuteness aid the choice of softening objects? It may be believed so as according to a video on Youtube called Why Are Things Cute?, it was said that things many might label as ‘cute’ activate the Nucleus Accumbens, a pleasure center that therefore allows us to be more receptive and captivated by an object that shows this cuteness appeal. This appeal being a softening and roundness of an object. Touched upon in the video is an additional information about the softening of the famous Disney character Mickey Mouse, wherefore, as well as his personality moderating they softened Mickey’s overall look, making more amiable and childlike, triggering adorability.

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I struggled immensely to gather information that I thought was relevant to my question.

 

I, of course, found some things to note but some of them are not books and are something I found online. They are not random, they actually explain/show quite a lot and connects easily with my question and the point/path I wish to make.

Below is one piece of research that is not a book and was not really about Animation, however it does discuss certain aspects that can be linked to Animation referring to animals or objects soften. If you watch it, you will notice that they talk about how some cartoons/animations have been soften over time and what reason there might be for this.

Vsauce (14th October, 2012). Youtube. 1 of 242 videos. [Online]. Available from - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0zConOPZ8Y. [Accessed: 14th October 2012]

Williams, R. (8th December, 2009). The Animator's Survival Kit. Expanded Edition. London: Faber and Faber Limited  = Everyone should use this as research and reference! This not only explains the 12 principles of animation but nearly everything there is to know about animation.

Rees, J. (10th July, 1987). The Brave Little Toaster. [DVD]. US: Walt Disney Pictures. = I shall be referencing and using this film as an example, so it only prudent to have it within my research.

Disch. M. T. (2nd April, 1986). The Brave Little Toaster. A bedtime story for small appliances. UK : Doubleday = I might as well show the differences between the book and the film and my opinions on why that is, as well as finding others opinions.

Kinney, J. Geronimi, C. Luske, H. Meador, J. Cormack, R. (15th August, 1946). Make Mine Music - Johnny Fedora and Alice Blue Bonnett. [DVD]. US: Walt Disney Productions. = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoX4YjC47oY This was another film that caught my eye when I had thought about my question.